First sentence(s):
Vaudeville was the major source of entertainment in America from the 1880s through the 1920s.

Set against the turbulent backdrop of American Vaudeville, four sisters embark on an unexpected adventure—and a last-ditch effort to save their family.

In 1919, the Turner sisters and their parents are barely scraping by. Their father is a low-paid boot-stitcher in Johnson City, New York, and the family is always one paycheck away from eviction. When their father’s hand is crushed and he can no longer work, their irrepressible mother decides that the vaudeville stage is their best—and only—chance for survival.

Traveling by train from town to town, teenagers Gert, Winnie, and Kit, and recent widow Nell soon find a new kind of freedom in the company of performers who are as diverse as their acts. There is a seamier side to the business, however, and the young women face dangers and turns of fate they never could have anticipated. Heartwarming and surprising, The Tumbling Turner Sisters is ultimately a story of awakening—to unexpected possibilities, to love and heartbreak, and to the dawn of a new American era.

My two-bits:

Captures the time period well with the presentation of women and their experiences in the 1900's. Also, I took delight with the details of daily living and tidbits of vaudeville world.

Issues of feminism and racism are touched upon to ponder over.

The adventure into vaudeville and the colorful characters makes this an entertaining read.

About the author:

Juliette Fay’s latest novel, The Tumbling Turner Sisters (Simon & Schuster), recounts the adventures of a poverty-stricken family of four girls who try their hand as an acrobatic act in vaudeville in 1919. It was inspired by the life of her vaudevillian great-grandfather. Available now for pre-order; publication date: June 14.

Juliette has three previous novels. The Shortest Way Home was chosen as one of Library Journal‘s Top 5 “Best Books of 2012: Women’s Fiction.” Shelter Me was a 2009 Massachusetts Book Award “Must-Read Book” and on the American Booksellers Association’s Indie Next list. Deep Down True was short-listed for the Women’s Fiction award by the American Library Association.

Juliette received a bachelor's degree from Boston College and a master's degree from Harvard University. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and four children.

A heartwarming story of friendship and demonic possession. The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act…different. She’s moody. She’s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she’s nearby. Abby’s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries—and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil? Like an unholy hybrid of Beaches and The Exorcist, My Best Friend’s Exorcism blends teen angst, adolescent drama, unspeakable horrors, and a mix of ’80s pop songs into a pulse-pounding supernatural thriller.

=====> Despite being in the horror genre I have a feeling this is be a fun one with funny bits to chuckle over.

FYI: Quirk books is starting off their Summer Book Club reading with this book (details).

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy by Sam Maggs
Last Call At the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger
Manhattan Mayhem edited by Mary Higgins Clark
Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye by Tania Del Rio, Wilhelm Staehle

The Supernatural London Underground series:
A Mirror Among Shattered Glass
book 2 - tba

First sentence(s):
It was early morning, and even though the omnipresent "they" say there is a time for everything, there had never been and would never be a good time for what he was about to do.

Unable to contain the deadly nature of her family secret and powers, nine-teen year old Romarin Demetri hails from California, U.S.A, to unearth her heritage as a descendant of serial-killer, Countess Bathory, the woman that lent Dracula his legend, and cursed Romarin with an appetite for blood.

Unenthusiastic about relocating to her birth city of London, a charming paranormal investigator with claim to the throne could change her mind, as he leads her to the only living and distant relative she has: a raven-haired recluse named Talia, who has taken refuge in an old castle in the heart of the city, and doesn’t seem to have a heart of her own.

After a rough introduction to the lethal, inappropriate, and enchantingly sarcastic people she calls her housemates, perhaps the other misfits will be her first true friends; However, as much as these people are like her, they still have hidden vendettas, a taste for revenge, and will struggle between what is just, and what will settle their psychological upheaval. There is only one way for Romarin to become part of the Supernatural London Underground: Can she be the one who challenges them to put down their ghosts and demons and make their world together?

PeekAbook:

My two-bits:

I found this book to be an introduction to a series that was heavy on the "getting to know you" aspect. It presented many characters and some of their backgrounds along with the main character.

Most of the time, the reading felt like hanging out with friends more than following a specific storyline.

There was some action and romance to hold my interest to the end.

About the author:

Romarin Demetri is a story crafter who loves black coffee, traveling abroad, and when her characters come home in some sort of trouble she swears she didn’t invent. Pulling from her B.A. in English and Psychology, her debut series, The Supernatural London Underground, is a blend of fantasy ground in reality, and a world a reader can truly escape to. As an eccentric and reader, she still enjoys creating the alternate reality in her urban fantasy series (more than anything!), and her interactive world waits for you at RomarinDemetri.com.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Girls—their vulnerability, strength, and passion to belong—are at the heart of this stunning first novel for readers of Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad.

Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader.

Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged—a place where she feels desperate to be accepted. As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence, and to that moment in a girl’s life when everything can go horribly wrong.

Emma Cline’s remarkable debut novel is gorgeously written and spellbinding, with razor-sharp precision and startling psychological insight. The Girls is a brilliant work of fiction—and an indelible portrait of girls, and of the women they become.

=====> Curious to read about girls growing up in the 60s.

ALSO, I am going to see Emma at an author event at Booksmith, San Francisco, June 23, Thursday, 6:30pm

Monday, June 20, 2016

About:Silent Book Club started with a couple of friends reading in companionable silence at our neighborhood bar. We loved books, and reading with friends, but most of our previous attempts at book clubs had fizzled out.

Often with traditional book clubs there's the scramble to finish the assigned book, and the pressure to have something smart to say. Wouldn't it be great to have a book club where you could just enjoy books, friends, and wine—without any homework?

=====> GO to their website to find out if there is one in your city. I am going to go to my first meeting next Monday. And, will update this post with comments on it.

Join us for Silent Book Club, a monthly popup speakeasy for readers. Bring a book, grab a spot on a comfy couch, and order a glass of wine. Then settle in for an evening of reading with fellow book lovers at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

While some silent reading parties have a strict No Talking! rule, no one will be shushed or shamed at Silent Book Club. We like to share book recommendations. Bookstagramming is welcome. And, there's a plush leather couch or armchair for everyone.

Update:

Reading: Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford

Pleasant evening overall.

It was interesting reading time in a dimly lit lobby/restaurant space of a hotel. The crowd was dispersed in various locations. I shared a couch with one person. Two people were in separate chairs across the coffee table from me.

Despite music blaring in the background people were quietly reading. At the end of the session, I met two of the women who shared my space who were also first-timers to the group.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

A new monthly meme here at vvb32 reads. As travel has been on the forefront of my mind, I thought I would share travel spots on my bucket list that are book related.

~*~

The Open Book
Air BnB bookstore
2 High Street
Wigtown, Scotland
Telephone: +44 1988 402010Website | Facebook | Air BnB

From AirBnB listing:Nestled into the pristine lowlands, The Open Book is a charming bookshop with apartment above in the heart of Wigtown, Scotland's National Book Town. Live your dream of having your very own bookshop by the sea in Scotland...for a week or two.

Description:The first ever bookshop holiday / residency experience, Scotland's National Book Town welcomes you to play-bookshop for a week or two. We'll give you your very own apartment and bookshop below, supported by a team of friendly volunteers to make your trip as lovely as possible. Set up by The Wigtown Festival Company, The Open Book's aim is to celebrate books, independent bookshops and welcome people around the world to Scotland's National Book Town. The fee for your stay is low because we are a non-profit. It covers the running costs of the holiday but that is all. A laptop and WiFi are provided, plus bicycles for those who like to explore the bucolic countryside on two wheels!

Pretty much booked until 2018.

If you've ever thought about opening a bookstore, now's your chance to try it out: The Open Book, a small shop in Wigtown, Scotland, is soliciting temporary owners on Airbnb.

For $312.65 a week, book lovers can run their own indie bookstore and live above it in a one-bedroom apartment. Volunteers are on hand to help you out with daily tasks, but setting the hours (the store must be open 40 hours per week), stocking books and making window displays are your responsibilities.

Wigtown is Scotland's "national book town," home to 1,000 residents and 10 bookstores (that's 1 for every 100 people). It's also the setting of the Wigtown Book Festival, an annual 10-day book celebration.

"[T]he bookshop residency's aim is to celebrate bookshops, encourage education in running independent bookshops and welcome people around the world to Scotland's National Book Town," explains the Airbnb advertisement.

=====> Seems like a good way to get introduced to some of the logistics of bookselling business in a vacation setting.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

=====> Kepler's Books presented Jodi Meadows, Cynthia Hand and Brodi Ashton along with their latest book collaboration at Redwood City Public Library. It was fun to hear how they met and the writing process for the book. They read an excerpt from the book in character, hence the head gear.

Inspired by the midcentury memoirs of Frances Conway, Enchanted Islands is the dazzling story of an independent American woman whose path takes her far from her native Minnesota when she and her husband, an undercover intelligence officer, are sent to the Galápagos Islands at the brink of World War II.

Born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1882 to immigrant parents, Frances Frankowski covets the life of her best friend, Rosalie Mendel, who has everything Fanny could wish for—money, parents who value education, and an effervescent and winning personality. When, at age fifteen, Rosalie decides they should run away to Chicago, Fanny jumps at the chance to escape her unexceptional life. But, within a year, Rosalie commits an unforgivable betrayal, inciting Frances to strike out on her own.

Decades later, the women reconnect in San Francisco and realize how widely their lives have diverged. While Rosalie is a housewife and mother, Frances works as a secretary for the Office of Naval Intelligence. There she is introduced to Ainslie Conway, an intelligence operator ten years her junior. When it’s arranged for Frances and Ainslie to marry and carry out a mission on the Galápagos Islands, the couple’s identities—already hidden from each other—are further buried under their new cover stories. No longer a lonely spinster, Frances is about to begin the most fascinating and intrigue-filled years of her life.

Amid active volcanoes, forbidding wildlife and flora, and unfriendly neighbors, Ainslie and Frances carve out a life for themselves. But the secrets they harbor from their enemies and from each other may be their undoing.

Drawing on the rich history of the early twentieth century and set against a large, colorful canvas, Enchanted Islands boldly examines the complexity of female friendship, the universal pursuit of a place to call home, and the reverberations of secrets we keep from others and from ourselves.

Set against the turbulent backdrop of American Vaudeville, four sisters embark on an unexpected adventure—and a last-ditch effort to save their family.

In 1919, the Turner sisters and their parents are barely scraping by. Their father is a low-paid boot-stitcher in Johnson City, New York, and the family is always one paycheck away from eviction. When their father’s hand is crushed and he can no longer work, their irrepressible mother decides that the vaudeville stage is their best—and only—chance for survival.

Traveling by train from town to town, teenagers Gert, Winnie, and Kit, and recent widow Nell soon find a new kind of freedom in the company of performers who are as diverse as their acts. There is a seamier side to the business, however, and the young women face dangers and turns of fate they never could have anticipated. Heartwarming and surprising, The Tumbling Turner Sisters is ultimately a story of awakening—to unexpected possibilities, to love and heartbreak, and to the dawn of a new American era.

QUOTE:She dropped onto one of the mismatched chairs and Nell put a mug of hot coffee in front of her. Mother took a sip, and we waited—for the solution to this seemingly insurmountable problem, or for her to howl like a wounded animal and throw her mug against the wall.
-chapter one

=====> Nothing like a mug of coffee for moments that need thinking on.

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